N. Korean leader urges more rocket launches

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) - North Korea's leader has ordered more satellite launches, state media said on Friday, two days after Pyongyang's long-range rocket launch triggered global outrage and UN condemnation.

Kim Jong-Un, who oversaw Wednesday's launch, said its success underscored the need for "to develop the country's science, technology and economy", according to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

North Korea says it placed a satellite in orbit for peaceful research, but critics say the launch amounted to a banned ballistic missile test that marked a major advance for the communist state's nuclear weapons programme.

The UN Security Council held emergency talks after the North, already under international sanctions for nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, ignored pleas from friends and foes and went ahead with the launch.